Inept handling of sea rights may harm country: Morshed Khan

ANIS ALAMGIR

Former Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan yesterday apprehended that inept handling of the maritime boundary issue by some government officials might deprive Bangladesh of its maritime interest.
Commenting on the government decision to submit notifications of arbitration to India and Myanmar on Tuesday to their envoys, he told The Independent that the way of approach seemed "as if we are complaining against the two countries on the issue, but in reality, we are going to claim our rights."
Bangladesh, India and Myanmar are parties to compulsory arbitration under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and they are under an obligation to accept the Final Award of the Tribunal, which is expected to take four to five years.
Morshed Khan termed the submission of notifications of arbitration a traditional approach to establish maritime rights.
But he feared the approach would yield little, if the government does not go for follow up actions.
Demanding all-party involvement to resolve the maritime dispute with India and Myanmar, the BNP leader said, "People want to know our position. Foreign minister herself should make it clear to the public."
Urging all to go beyond politics, he said, "It's not an issue for Awami League or BNP. It's a national issue and we should uphold national interest first."
The former foreign minister asked the government to form a national technical committee comprising experts to oversee the issue.
He opposed the appointment of a British jurist Vaughn Lowe QC as the arbitrator of Bangladesh to plead the country's case at the UN body.
He asked, "being a foreign jurist how much does he know about Bangladesh's problem."
"Why former arbitrator Barrister A.K.H Morshed is absent," he questioned the government, saying Barrister Morshed was the chairman of the UNCLOS expert committee.
Bangladesh ratified the 1982 UNCLOS in 2001 with a view to preserving national wealth and sovereign rights in the Bay of Bengal.
Morshed Khan listed the steps taken during the four-party alliance government to resolve the crisis.
After the ratification, we formed a committee comprising representatives from the navy, air force, survey department and other concerned departments.
"We set up a UNCLOS desk at the ministry that carried out survey on maritime boundary," he said.
Six officers have been sent to UN to develop their expertise in this regard. Barrister Kaiser Morshed was the adviser of the desk.

published on 10 October 2009, the independent